Westlake Primary School in Tokai, Cape Town, is a magnificently constructed school. It is modern, has two quads with surrounding classrooms and a vibrant principal and staff to complement this “model C” standard school. The Ackerman Foundation was instrumental in this development, which began under the strong driving force of the founding principal, Landie Diamond.
Importantly they have a champion – the Rotary Club of Constantia – which saw the school’s potential as a fully holistic institution. Initially, the school did not have any sports facilities and that all changed with the partnership of Westlake Primary and Constantia Rotary. Well over two years ago, the principal, staff, and Rotary Club visited Ukhanyo to view our facilities. They were entranced by the sports and life skills programme. There followed a series of meetings to assist their process.
Initially, before the necessary funds were raised for an astroturf field, inventively the Rotary opted for a hard gravel field mixed with cement, for athletics and soccer. Then came the astroturf field which was opened in March this year! It is magnificent to see this wonderful school take a giant step forward. What a transformation. We sense the real possibility of replication rippling across the country, and are so excited.
Tracey Petersen-Brown, the newly elected principal, wrote us a beautiful letter of thanks for our supporting role. She wrote, “At the beginning of our project we visited Ukhanyo Primary School, this gave us a clear vision and direction on what we would like to achieve at Westlake Primary School. The extraordinary facilities and youth upliftment programme at Ukhanyo illustrates the amazing opportunities given to learners which positively develops the learners and their community. The passion and energy from the MasiSports team inspired us. With the initial guidance from Vince and MasiSports, the Constantia Rotary Club successfully completed the project and did the official handover on the 4 March 2022. We are so grateful to all.”
Congratulations Westlake Primary school! You have shown that a wonderful principal and staff with a champion is sufficient to spread this transformation process one school at a time.
Westlake before construction
Westlake after construction
